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During 2005:

Jack Drescher was a New York psychiatrist
and
chairperson of the American Psychiatric Association's committee on gay, lesbian and bisexual issues.

He has treated about a
dozen men who had previously undergone conversion therapy. Drescher said:

"Reparative
therapy is the laetrile of mental health."

"Laetrile" was the quack cancer
cure banned in the United States in the 1970s. He compared it with creationism and intelligent design, which are religiously conservative beliefs about the origin of the universe and of living species on Earth.

During an
interview with the Washington Post, he said:

"Many people who try this treatment tend to be desperate, very
unhappy and don't know other gay people. I see people who've been very hurt by this. They spend years
trying to change and are told they aren't trying hard enough."

Dr. Nicolosi, a conservative Roman Catholic, was a co-founder of
the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). He coined the term "reparative therapy." He said that this form of
therapy:

"...can only be damaging if the agenda of the therapist
supersedes that of the patient."

He claims that one third of the patients at the Thomas Aquinas Psychological
Clinic, of which he is founding director, experience:

"...significant
improvement -- they understand their homosexuality and have some sense
of control."

However, he notes that they may continue to engage in same-sex sexual behavior.
He seems to be saying that this group of clients continue to have a
homosexual orientation and engage in same-gender sexual behavior.

He states that another third are "cured;" they refrain from same-sex behavior and
the strength and frequency of their same-sex desires is diminished,
although not necessarily gone. This appears to refer to their homosexual
patients who decide to remain celibate and not act on their sexual attractions.

The remaining third fail to change. They continue with a homosexual or
bisexual orientation and behavior.

It would seem that he is admitting that reparative therapy has an almost
100% failure rate in terms of converting persons with a homosexual or
bisexual orientation to a heterosexual orientation. He commented:

"We say to patients,
'Your true self is heterosexual'."

He tells male patients:

"Look at
your body: It was designed to fit a woman, not a man." 2

During 2012:

Robert Spitzer had led the successful effort during 1973 to have the American Psychiatric Association remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. The APA now recognizes homosexual orientation as a normal variant of human sexuality.

In 2003, Spitzer reached the conclusion in a study that some highly motivated individuals could change their sexual orientation. Unfortunately, most of the individuals studied in the report were referred to him by ex-gay groups. In 2012, he retracted his study.

2012 to 2017-MAY: Actions taken by eight U.S. states and the District of Columbia to ban LGBT conversion therapy on minors:

2012-SEP: California Governor Jerry Brown signed bill SB-1172 into law. It was delayed by a court case, but finally became effective on 2013-AUG-29.

2013-AUG: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed bill AB 3371 into law. It became effective immediately.

2014-DEC: District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray signed B20-0501 into law. It became effective on 2015-MAR-11.

2018-APR: By now, at least 11 states and Washington DC have banned conversion therapy by state-licensed medical professionals on minors. The U.S. Supreme Court has twice refused appeals challenging the California law.

Similar bills have been introduced into the legislatures of Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.3

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) introduced the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 into the 115th U.S. Congress on 2017-APR-25. It would protect people of all ages from conversion therapy. It has been endorsed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Lesbian Rights, PFLAG National, National Center for Transgender Equality, GLSEN, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Association of School Psychologists, School Social Work Association of America, American Counseling Association, Equality California, Los Angeles LGBT Center, National Association of Secondary School Principals, American Psychoanalytic Association, and American School Counselor Association. He also introduced a bill into the previous Congress, but it did not proceed.4

2016-MAY: The Southern Poverty Law Center released a report titled: "‘Conversion Therapists,’ the Anti-LGBT Right, and the Demonization of Homosexuality:"

The heading reads:

"This is a report about junk science and some of the people who propagate it. It is not about silly, perhaps amusing theories about ESP or life on the moon or even purported miracle cures for cancer. The “science” examined here actively harms people, leading with grim regularity to suicide, depression and an array of self-destructive behaviors. It demeans, defames and defrauds human beings, typically at their most vulnerable moments. And, as if that weren’t enough, it regularly lays the blame for the alleged malady of homosexuality at the feet of gay people’s parents, despite the fact that they are wholly innocent."

Some of their comments:

2014-JUN: The Republican Party of Texas adopted a resolution that recognized the: "... legitimacy and efficacy [of reparative therapy for those] seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle." The resolution recommends that no laws should exist to bar the practice.10

2014: The Columbia University Law School reviewed all 13 peer-reviewed studies that did primary research on conversion therapy over the previous 3 decades. Twelve of them:

"concluded that [conversion therapy] is ineffective and/ or harmful, finding links to depression, suicidality, anxiety, social isolation and decreased capacity for intimacy. ... [they] can be extremely harmful."10

2014-JUL: Former ex-gay leaders release letter:

Nine former leader in the ex-gay movement issued a joint letter critical of reparative therapy because of the:

"... terrible emotional and spiritual damage it can cause, especially for LGBT youth."

The signatories include Brad Allen, Michael Bussee, Jeremy Marks, Yvette Cantu Schneider and John Smid, all one-time officials with Exodus International or its projects; Darlene Bogle of Paraklete Ministries; Catherine Chapman of the Portland Fellowship; Bill Prickett of Coming Back; and Tim Rymel of Love Won Out.10

Sandra G. Boodman, "Vowing to Set the World Straight: Proponents of
Reparative Therapy Say They Can Help Gay Patients Become Heterosexual.
Experts Call That a Prescription for Harm," Washington Post,
2005-AUG-16, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

"List of U.S. jurisdictions banning conversion therapy for minors, Wikipedia, as on 2017-MAY-20, at: https://en.wikipedia.org/